CONCORD, CA — On Thursday morning outside the Concord Immigration Court, around 50 community members, attorneys, faith leaders, and advocates gathered for a press conference and rally calling attention to what organizers described as a growing campaign of fear and disinformation targeting immigrants.
The event, led by the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ), the Contra Costa Immigrant Rights Alliance (CCIRA), and Stand Together Contra Costa, focused on supporting immigrants’ constitutional rights and calling out recent attempts by the Trump administration to intimidate, confuse, and push people out of the country without a fair hearing.
Participants assembled in front of the building housing the immigration court—an administrative court under the Department of Justice, not part of the judicial branch. Speakers emphasized this point repeatedly, noting that immigration courts do not provide the same constitutional protections as criminal courts.
Most critically, immigrants are not guaranteed legal representation, even when facing life-altering consequences such as deportation, family separation, or return to dangerous conditions in their countries of origin. Without the right to an appointed attorney, hundreds of thousands of people are forced to defend themselves against a complex and rapidly shifting legal system.
Ali Saidi, Director of Stand Together Contra Costa and emcee of the event, opened the press conference by denouncing what he called a “coordinated campaign of disinformation to confuse, terrorize, and eliminate due process for immigrants.”
He pointed to recent flyers posted inside the Concord Immigration Court and distributed to immigrants across the country as one example. The flyers falsely claim that immigrants can receive $1,000 from the government to leave the country voluntarily and that doing so will preserve their ability to seek legal status later.
According to Saidi and others, these claims are not only false—they are dangerous, as they trick individuals into forfeiting their rights and possibly subject themselves to long-term or permanent bars from reentering the United States.
Sean McMahon, a senior attorney with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, reiterated these warnings. He explained that individuals who voluntarily leave the country under these deceptive conditions may lose any opportunity to gain asylum or another legal form of protection. McMahon noted that appearing in court, even without legal representation, can still allow individuals to seek legal status and avoid removal.
“If people appear for their court hearings today, they may be able to win asylum or some other form of legal status,” he said. “But if they leave the United States, they may subject themselves to being permanently barred from returning.”
Lisa Knox, Co-Executive Director and Legal Director at CCIJ, reminded the community of their rights, offering key resources for immigrants to remain informed about their legal status. She urged people in removal proceedings to regularly call 1-800-898-7180 to check their hearing date, time, and location, and to report any Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity to the Contra Costa Rapid Response Network at 925-900-5151.
She noted that showing up in court is a vital step, even for those who lack attorneys, and that many immigrants are eligible for forms of relief they may not even realize exist.
According to McMahon, many immigrants are receiving mass emails falsely stating that their parole has been revoked and that they must self-deport within seven days. In many cases, recipients never had formal parole status to begin with.
This kind of message, he said, causes widespread panic and discourages people from attending their court hearings. In recent weeks, volunteers have reported that only two or three people have shown up for court on days when ten or twenty are scheduled.
The result is a massive spike in default deportation orders—people removed from the country not because of the strength of the government’s case, but because they never had the opportunity to present their own.
Matthew Bridges, a volunteer with the Kehilla Community Synagogue’s immigration committee and the Concord Court Accompaniment Program, described how court accompaniment efforts play a crucial role in countering fear. Since January, he and other volunteers have helped people navigate the courthouse, fill out legal forms, and simply offered a supportive presence in an often-hostile environment.
“Our presence shows the judges and DHS attorneys that this community supports immigrants,” Bridges said, “and that we won’t allow violations of people’s constitutional rights and human dignity without a fight.” He emphasized how the threat of deportation evokes trauma responses for many immigrants—especially those who have previously been detained or who fled persecution.
Community presence in these spaces can make a world of difference,” he said.
Kate Mahoney, Senior Staff Attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, gave a sobering assessment of the structural failures of the immigration court system. She argued that the system, never designed to provide immigrants with dignity or fairness, is now being overtly weaponized.
Under the Trump administration, she said, the Department of Justice has deprioritized its other obligations, such as white-collar crime, in favor of focusing resources on immigration enforcement. Immigration judges, who are supposed to be neutral decision-makers, are now being encouraged to act as agents of removal.
“Judges are rejecting asylum applications for minor technicalities, sometimes even before a person has had the chance to testify,” she said. “And by coordinating with ICE to allow arrests outside of courtrooms, the courts are becoming prosecutors instead of arbiters.”
April Newman from CCIJ highlighted another disturbing trend: the attempt to reopen detention centers in the Bay Area, particularly at the now-shuttered FCI Dublin federal prison and at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield. Both facilities are being considered by ICE as potential immigrant detention sites. FCI Dublin was closed after a series of investigations revealed rampant sexual abuse by prison staff, particularly targeting immigrant women. Newman, who works with survivors of incarceration and sexual violence, explained how ICE’s presence in any community spreads fear.
“We know that when ICE opens a detention center, they terrorize the surrounding communities—our communities,” she said. “From inside and outside of cages, immigrants and survivors have stood up and won. We will continue to organize together.”
Throughout the press conference, speakers returned to one consistent message: solidarity, not silence, is the response to intimidation. Lisa Knox, in her concluding remarks, asked community members to reject misinformation, spread accurate information from trusted sources, and learn their rights. She encouraged the public to sign a petition to block ICE from opening detention facilities at FCI Dublin and Travis Air Force Base and to get involved in community defense networks.
“You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to a lawyer. You have the right to demand a warrant,” she reminded the crowd. “If you’re not at risk yourself and you witness ICE arrests, document them, report them, and notify the local rapid response network.”
As the event ended, the crowd launched into chants of “Power to the people, not ICE!” and “Immigrants are welcome here!”
The energy in the air was defiant and determined. For those who organized the rally, the fight to defend immigrants’ rights is not just about one flyer or one deportation—it is about resisting an administration that has made stripping due process from immigrants a central pillar of its agenda.
